As his hearing slowly returned to normal, Oskar took the t-handle to his prosthetic and made sure everything was tight, and then stood back straight, stretching his back.

  I’m not saying I’m old, obviously, but the military ages a body. I gotta say, though… Doc Meanie wasn’t lying about the importance of hydration. Especially this water. I have the joints I had when I was like fifteen and we played baseball the one year our dad made the time to let us.

  // Okay, I’m not unpacking the daddy issues, but I do feel like we should circle back to the name of your doctor. You said Meanie, right? Doctor Meanie? //

  Not quite a doctor, Oskar grinned as he pulled out a second waterskin.

  Doc is what we call our Corpsmen. They were our combat medics. They went to war and fought with us. Corpmen love their Marines and Marines love their Corpsmen.

  // Still. Meanie is an awful name for a combat medic, or Corpsman. //

  Hell of a Corpsman, though, Oskar thought back.

  Meanie had been there when Oskar had gotten hurt. Both being stubborn, they’d not gotten along great the first time they met, but that hadn’t lasted long at all. Professionals recognize professionals, and Meanie really had been a hell of a Doc. That’s all that matters to a Marine.

  Definitely the guy you want working on you when things go wrong. I hope those guys are doing alright. Gotta focus on the now, though.

  // Speaking of now, we should probably skedaddle. You just made a lot of noise and were probably visible in the air to anyone who was looking. //

  Good call, we’ll need to shift direction for a few hours before course correcting to make angling us a little more difficult.

  “If Touwon has what he wants here, we’ll keep going, just a little northeast for a bit before we straighten out.”

  Climbing out of the hole, Touwon threw a thumbs up over his head and re-situated his bag. He made it a point to walk by Erik, prompting Sara to jump over to Touwon’s much more comfortable bag, causing Erik to spin around and reach for his back with a curse.

  “Damn claws!”

  “They are love scratches!” Fox called back laughing at Erik.

  Oskar couldn’t see Touwon, but he’d bet a waterskin the Kobold was smiling.

  ***

  The heat forced them to stop once so Oskar could clean the sweat from his liner; otherwise, the day passed in sweltering silence. He could alleviate most of the sweating though using Wayspring water’s magic to regulate his temperature, but stopping once to clean the liner was quicker and safer than running needlessly low on water and being forced to find another Wayspring.

  That night, though, sleep eluded Oskar. The creatures, the thousands of shuttering legs, the endless eyes, the pressure at the base of his skull when he pushed himself too far or felt overwhelmed… it all circled his thoughts like vultures desperately waiting on that final stumble of a wounded animal.

  What are you?

  Oskar thought the question to himself and the PUB, but even that felt dangerous. The feelings weren’t as common as they had been when he first arrived, but they felt more focused somehow.

  It seems like ol Eldrichard, whoever he is, has dialed in on me.

  // Did… did you just name something you claim feels outside of space and time as you know it “Eldrichard?” //

  Maybe? Yes?

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  // I pick up on the heartrate changes, the breathing… but I’ve never been able to get a read on what you’re talking about. Do you think, and please don’t take this the wrong way… but do you think it could be psychosomatic? //

  God, I hope it is. But I think we both know nothing is ever that easy for me.

  // Fair point. Well, alrighty then. Eldrichard it is. //

  There was no pressure, no tangible change in anything that Oskar could explain, but the dark humor he felt almost turned to hysteria. He closed his eyes and thought of the woods near one house they’d lived in growing up, trying to ground himself in the memory of the ice cold creek water and the smell of pine trees. Erik calling him a dumbass for walking into the woods barefoot in the first place, and them both laughing as Erik shoes slid on a branch of green pine straw and he slid down the small embankment into the water ten seconds later.

  Oskar came out of the moment with a forced smile, back in full control, but decided it would be best to lay off the silly name for a little while. He could feel the PUB hovering, wanting to ask him if everything was alright, and he gently nodded before it could, prompting a calculating glance from Fox that he ignored.

  Well, looks like no sleep for now, might as well let Erik get some rest.

  Carefully putting on the worn liner, and trying not to let that impending problem wear on him, he clicked the foot into place and stood. Erik and Sara sat near the top of the dune. Erik poked his head up into the wind and slowly scanned the area before sinking back down beside the streamer of sand he’d chosen to sit by.

  For Sara’s part, she watched the sand arcing perfectly into the sand below like she was on the verge of attacking it. She didn’t though, but it looked a close thing.

  That streamer of sand has no idea the danger it’s in.

  // Poor thing. //

  ***

  The next morning had the group back on track heading North, but nervously watching the sky. Not because they’d seen anything, but because this was quickly approaching the longest they’d gone with no sign whatsoever of Valla’s troops. No shadow creatures, no Gliders, no Crocs, and thankfully no more Drakon.

  Oskar spent the first few hours of that day trying and failing to recreate what he’d done in the air with his magic during the Wyrm fight. While Resonating Ward felt defensive and utilitarian, what he’d done in the sky was pointedly offensive. Frustrated at his inability to recreate the effect, he fell back on extending the range of the Ward; Fox’s plan was a constant motivator.

  Thankfully, on that front, he finally saw some progress. He paid special attention to what each magic was doing, and realized he was basically doing the same thing over and over instead of tailoring the spell slightly to his need. In battle, it was easy to let his subconscious do its part, which was when his abilities grew the most, and realizing that helped Oskar to finally get down to the specifics of what was happening.

  In Resonating Ward, he’d thought that Sora and Talau were in lockstep. Empowered and improved by Rakiyu, Sora took on the smooth, glasslike quality, and Talau’s patterns took on a honeycombed shape around his body. That was mostly true. Sora and Talau were in equal measure, but the calmness and peace he felt inside the spell finally hinted to Oskar that Talau was the core of that ability and had a tiny bit more presence than the other two magics.

  What he’d done in the air had been something else entirely. Whatever that something else was, though, irritatingly remained a mystery to Oskar by the time they stopped to rest, fill up, and eat.

  // Wish I could help you, buddy, but I mostly just pick up what you pick up, and we left most of what I know about Druids behind the first time you used Momentum to face tackle Vulk back when you met the Kobolds. //

  No worries. Next time something is definitely about to kill us, it’ll come back to me.

  Oskar finally took the downtime and opportunity to talk to Touwon directly. Not sure what to say, he awkwardly asked, “How are food supplies? Do Penny and I need to do some hunting?”

  Touwon waved so-so in answer to the first question, and half shrugged and nodded in response to the second.

  “Alright. I guess we’ll keep an eye out for some juicy Lizards.”

  Touwon nodded appreciatively and turned to refill his waterskin.

  Gonna chalk that up as a failure.

  // Yeah, maybe try not to ask questions that can be answered with shoulders. //

  In my defense, he’s developed a very advanced body language.

  // Oh yeah, I can see that. Look at the way he’s already forgotten about you completely. It’s almost a monologue about his feelings. //

  If he didn’t fight and protect us, going out of his way to protect Erik and me, I’d think he didn’t like me at all.

  // You’re gonna be real surprised when he asks you to be his best man when he finally marries that bag of his. //

  Dude, I’d marry that bag. When he says we might need some more food, he probably means he’s down to three hundred pounds of lizard meat and fifty pounds of cactus fruit.

  // That is a nice bag. //

  Looking up from the bag, Oskar realized Touwon was staring at him questioningly. The Kobold hugged his bag against his chest and lowered his dark purple brows at Oskar.

  // He does not like you staring at his sack. //

  That was low brow humor. We’re above that. Barely… but we are.

  // You’re above the sack alright. //

  We might have just hit PG-13.